


Take Care of Me

by Paranoia17



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Issues, Muslims, girl friendships, mental health
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28352427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paranoia17/pseuds/Paranoia17





	1. A Night Like Many Others

The jingling of keys is the only sound heard before the apartment door creaks open, its startling effect dragging no reaction from the girl seated on the floor.

“Raimunde? Is everything okay?” Ilham asks, her voice suddenly filling with concern when she sees the girl on the floor.

“Yeah. Just having a staring contest with the floor.”

“Who’s winning?” Ilham closes the door with her heel and moves past her friend to head to the kitchen. 

“The floor.” Raimunde sighs, finally breaking eye contact as she gets up, following her friend to the kitchen. “Did you get my pencils?”

“Yeah. I bought another pack this time so you’ll have extra.” Ilham sets down the grocery bags on the kitchen island, her handbag falling off her shoulder. 

“Thank you so much, Ilham.” Raimunde giggles, her hand suddenly digging into one of the bags, reaching to pull out the packets of pencils. “I really appreciate it.”

“They’re in the other bag.” Ilham exits the kitchen, pulling off her headscarf as she goes. “Is Hawa back yet?”

“No. Her shift ends at eight.”

“Well, it’s eight-fifteen now so she’s probably on her way back now.” Ilham’s voice drowns out the further she gets causing Raimunde to strain to hear. 

Setting her pencils aside, Raimunde digs in once more, drawing out items necessary to their daily living in the apartment. Milk, sugar, the usual. 

The door creaks open once again, this time the person announcing their presence by yelling a loud “Assalam Alaikum!” before the door slams shut, the sound of the lock clicking into place. “I’m home!” Hawada comes into view, sending a smile in Raimunde’s direction. 

“Hey Hawa.” smiling back, the ravenette walks over to her friend to give her a hug. “How was work?”

“Exhausting as usual. But fun. Is Ilham home?”

“Right here.” The shortest of the three walks into the kitchen, moving over to give the tallest a hug. 

“I’ll make dinner tonight.”

The Muslim friends share a glance, having some sort of telepathic conversation with each other. It happens often, so Raimunde’s learned to ignore those glances that don’t include her. She knows that they’re probably talking about her anyway.

“Sure. Just don’t poison us.” Ilham shrugs, sending a cheeky smile before moving over to open the fridge.

“Yes. Don’t kill us, Ray.” Hawada winks, pinching Ray’s cheek. 

Brushing away her friends’ hand, Ray rolls her eyes, hovering over to the cupboards to look for something to cook. “I can cook without killing, thank you very much. You guys should get started on your homework so that you can at least get some done before the night really hits us.”

“Did you finish yours?” Ilham asks, pouring a glass of mango juice for herself. 

“Of course she did. She always finishes before us.” Hawada calls, making her way out of the kitchen.

“Not my fault you guys are so slow.”


	2. A Penny For Your Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A longer chapter this time... :]

After a delicious and poisonless—despite earlier protests—dinner of halal chicken enchiladas, the girls settle into their rooms, two to finish up their work and one to fall into a deep sleep. The minutes rush by and before long, the sky is dark, the moon has risen, and the stars dot the endless night. 

Hawada, having finished her work a little earlier than Ilham, walks out of her room, stretching her sore muscles. Wandering into the kitchen, she looks for something to eat, opening cupboards and the likes. At last her eyes land on a covered plate and the slight scent of cheese wafting from it indicates that it might contain leftovers from dinner. Taking quiet steps forward, Hawa pulls off the cover to find that her assumption is indeed right. Being a psych student, she would know to find the results before asking questions. 

Grabbing the plate, she scampers off, rejecting her room and instead creeping into Ray’s. The light was off, and that was a clear sign that Ray was asleep but Hawa knew that she had a tendency to stay up and read stories on her phone till she fell asleep. Quietly pressing down on the doors’ handlebar, she pushes it open and peers in, making sure that her plate is still balanced straight. The room is dark, no light peeping from beneath the covers and if that doesn’t say anything, then the fact that Ray’s lying facing the door, her mouth slightly open and small humming noises falling from her pink lips, piercing brown eyes covered by her eyelids, is a clear indication.

Smiling at her best friends’ sleeping form, Hawada closes the door, making sure there’s no noise despite the fact that almost nothing can wake Raimunde up. Continuing along the hallway, she knocks on Ilham’s door, opening it and peering inside once the “come in” has hit her ears. 

“Hey, Ilham.”

“Hey, Hawa.”

“Still studying?”

“Nursing doesn’t come without hardcore studying.”

“You’re clearly sleep-deprived. And probably hungry.” Hawada sets the plate down on her desk, holding up an enchilada for her to take a bite from. “Eat.”

“Tch. I’m not hungry. And I have to finish this page.”

“Oh give it a break, girl.” Hawa rolls her eyes, pushing the leftover against her best friend’s lips, making a pouty face to urge her to open up. “It’s not due tomorrow. You’ll be fine.”

A little more pushing and the enchilada is finally inside her mouth, slowly being chewed before being swallowed.

“Masha’Allah, she makes really good food, doesn’t she?” Ilham murmurs, eyes cast down to her hands still resting on her textbook. 

“Despite the arguments we put up.” Smiling, Hawa runs her fingers through Ilham’s curly locks, admiring how the colours have changed naturally from blonde to brown, but still tightly coiled curls, despite the age. “Masha’Allah, she does.”

“I wonder if she’s ever given any thought to becoming Muslim…”

The words are enough to shock Hawada into sitting plopping down right there. Thankfully, the bed isn’t too far away so instead of landing on the hard floor that’s still uncomfortable regardless of being carpeted, she drops on the brightly coloured duvet of Ilham’s bed. 

“You’ve thought about that?”

“Haven’t you?”

“Of course I have. S-she’d make a great Muslim.”

“Right. She already has more than half the things down, spending on others, donating as much as possible and all that. Mannerswise, she’s good to go.”

“True.” Hawada nods, in complete agreement with Ilham. This isn’t the first time they’ve touched upon the topic, but earlier, that’s all it was, a touch and nothing more. Now, it seemed that they would be able to delve a little deeper. “She’s really ins—”

Hawa’s eyebrows furrow as she suddenly goes quiet, her eyes concentrated, but not focused on anything.

“What’s wrong?”

“—do you hear that?”

Ilham furrows her eyebrows as well, both of them listening intently. Then they hear it.

The soft whimpers. 

Rushing away from the desk, both girls stand up at once, share a glance and are out the door in a matter of seconds. Creeping through the hallway, they make their way to the place where the noise is coming from. 

Leaning against the door, the girls listen and what they hear from inside confirms their suspicions.

There's whimpering coming from inside Raimunde's room. 

Quietly, they open the door and peer through, one head on top of the other like a typical cliche.

What they see inside surprises them.

Raimunde is sitting in her bed, despite having been asleep only half an hour ago, her laptop in her lap, headphones settled on her ears.

"Raimunde? Ray?" Ilham calls, unaware of the confusion Hawada is in. She was sleeping only a little while ago. Why was she up and on her laptop right now? She knew how much Ray loved her sleep so to see her like this was a surprise. Even if she just woke up in the night, she wouldn't usually stay up but would rather just wait for sleep to consume her once again.

It takes Hawada's raised voice to jostle her out of whatever she's watching. She turns to look at them—

 _"I-I'm sorry! S-sir, I'm so sorry! I w-won't do it again! I'll b-be good, I p-promise I'll be g-good!"_ And then loud sobs fill the air, their source the screen in front of their friend.

Hawa turns on the light, causing Ray to blink profusely. There are tears running down her cheeks. 

"Raimunde? Ray, what's wrong?" Both girls rush forward, Ilham reaching her first, hands out to cradle the younger one and wipe those tears away. 

"N-nothing. I was just feeling a little emotional."

"You could've just come to us, Ray," Hawa whispers, handing her a tissue to wipe her nose. "You can tell us."

"It was nothin—" the screen interrupts them again, this time with screams mixed with pleads for ' _Sir'_ to let her go. "Oh. You guys can hear that?"

"Yes." Ilham answers. It's a change in topic, yes, but both girls know her tricks. If not now, they'll beg her to explain tomorrow.

"Sorry to disturb you guys. I thought I plugged in the headphones." Smiling sheepishly, Ray holds up the unplugged wire with one hand, wiping her nose with the other. Dropping the wire, she hits the space bar on the keyboard and whatever movie is playing, stops abruptly. She shuts the lid and sets the device aside.

"Why are you up in the first place? I checked in on you half an hour ago and you were asleep." Hawa asks, settling herself down on the bed.

"Ah. I was watching a movie and fell asleep then just randomly woke up." Ray holds Ilham's hand, squeezing a little to reassure her that she's fine. Ilham is the oldest out of all of them and sometimes she worries when she shouldn't. "So I just continued my movie because I couldn't seem to sleep again."

"What movie were you watching?" Psychology student Hawada strikes again. Something is odd. And maybe asking questions can help. Or maybe it's just that it's been a long, _long_ time since they last saw her cry. Ray hardly ever cries. 

"I don't remember the name, but it's about a girl who gets kidnapped and then gets tortured before she rescues herself. I heard good reviews about it and thought it might help me come up with ideas."

It's a reasonable reason. Perfectly reasonable. This is not anything out of the ordinary. Ray likes scaring herself with horror movies and then not sleeping. And using it for ideas is reasonable too.

Hawada and Ilham had seen Raimunde walk up to a burly police officer that everyone was scared of and ask him questions for her ideas. They'd seen her ask someone to punch her just so she could feel the pain her beloved people felt when she put them through such pain.

The point is—they'd witnessed her different methods of gaining ideas and this one seemed no different. So why did it seem like she was lying?

"You guys, it's three in the morning. Why are you not asleep?" Suddenly picking herself up from the bed and pushing them up from their own seated positions, she pulls them along, taking out of her room and directs them to their own, tucking them both in with a kiss on the forehead fast enough that neither the nursing student nor the psychology student can register anything. And after studying hard, it isn't hard for sleep to find them.


	3. A Normal College Morning

The next morning announces itself with the constant pitter-patter of rain colliding with the windows. It's the kind of weather that Ray loves, so for once, waking up earlier than usual isn't a problem. After freshening up in the bathroom, she makes her way to the kitchen in an oversized hoodie and yoga pants. 

Surprisingly, there's no one in the kitchen making breakfast. Judging by the night they had, Ray assumes that the other girls are still sleeping. Smiling softly, she takes out the ingredients to make pancakes; the typical college breakfast. 

Mixing together the eggs and milk with the batter, she lathers it onto a pan, quietly humming to herself, absolutely not caring for the fact that her clothes are now dusty because of the flour. The pancakes sizzle in the pan and Ray skips over to flip the treat, jerking the pan and throwing the pancake into the air before catching it. 

Repeating the process, she piles all the pancakes onto a plate, setting the syrup alongside on the kitchen island. 

"Raimunde?" A sleepy voice calls, soft feet padding into the kitchen. She looks up to see Hawada rubbing her eyes as she walks in.

"Good morning, darling." The pet name slips out with ease, Ray reaching out to pull the younger over and settle her down on a barstool.

"Why are you up so early?" The second voice comes from the hallway and a look in the direction reveals Ilham walking over to her place at the breakfast table, looking a lot fresher than Hawa.

"Good morning to you too. You both should've slept longer. You hardly slept last night."

"It's nine-thirty, Ray. That's a lot of sleep. Any longer isn't healthy for you."

"Well, nine-thirty isn't too early. Why are you asking why  _ I'm _ up this early?"

"Because the proper time to wake up in your book is ten-thirty and after," Hawada adds, earning a glare from Raimunde. She knows she should correct her sleeping habits, but sleep is very,  _ very _ precious to her.

"Yah! Leave my sleep schedule alone and I won't slip sleeping pills in your food. Focus on your breakfast instead." Ray whines, settling down herself. 

"How can we trust that you didn't slip those pills in breakfast?" Ilham is skeptical but sits down as well.

"You can't. I guess you'll just have to take a leap of faith." Raimunde winks, grabbing a pancake and dropping in on her plate before slathering it with syrup.

Her eyes drop to her watch and Ilham's earlier words really hit her. It's nine thirty-five. "Crackers on a skewer." She curses, hurriedly pulling away from the chair and racing upstairs to grab her bookbag. "I will skewer myself for forgetting." She rushes downstairs, pulling off the car keys from their place and yelling a quick, "I'm late for class and I'm taking the car!"

"Okay!"

"Sure!"

And then she leaves out the door, into her beloved rain and to her class.


	4. A New Friend

The ride to the college is short, but in Rimunde's mind, it takes hours, rather than minutes.

"Late, late, late. I'm late. And the professor is gonna kill me." She mumbles under her breath, twisting the steering wheel to direct the car into the parking lot. Slipping out of the car, her bag in hand she runs, the rain suddenly picking up speed, drenching the girl.

Blurry vision, running on the slippery ground is usually the recipe for disaster. Cue the disaster.

A yelp escapes the girls' mouths, both of them tipping over, destined for a major injury lest they make contact with the ground. Ray's bag falls and the other girl lets go of her books to grab onto something to soften her fall. The girls manage to find each others’ hands, both of them holding each other up. It's only then when they get to have a good look at each other. The other girl is wearing glasses, adorable face framed by a pink and silver Paris themed hijaab. Her eyes meet Ray's and they both smile, lips curling at the edges. Taking one step back, they right themselves, grabbing their things and facing each other once again.

"Thanks for saving me." Raimunde smiles at the girl.

"You saved me as much as I did you." The girl winks, offering a hand. "I'm Hajar."

"Raimunde. Nice to meet you, Hajar." They shake hands, Ray taking note of the slip of paper stuck in between her books. "You have creative writing?" 

"Yeah." Hajar looks down, at her books, before looking back up. "I thought I'd try it out. But I'm lost." She pouts and Ray coos in her head. 

"Well, you're in luck. I'm in creative writing too so I can take you there." Ray smiles and Hajar matches her in facial expression. 

"Well, then. Lead the way." 

They make it to the classroom and judging by the silence that's coming from inside, the class  _ has  _ started and unfortunately, there's no escape from the scolding that'll come next. Cursing her made-up curses, Ray pastes a smile on her face and opens the door. She can't scare Hajar before she's even entered the class. There's already a lack of people and the threat of complete cancellation of classes hangs over their heads. 

"Get ready. You're about to enter a heaven only a few can understand." Raimunde whispers with a wink and opens the door.

As soon as they step in, the whole class's attention transfers on to them. Ray keeps Hajar hidden behind her, dreading the moment when the professor looks over at her. 

"Why are you late, Ms. Sallow?" Professor Starre's green eyes make contact with Raimunde's brown ones and she shivers as a phantom finger scrapes down her spine. "You know I don't tolerate tardiness."

"I know, and I'm really sorry, Professor. But I promise I have a good reason." She steps aside to reveal the new student. "I bumped into the new student on the way." Ray spares a glance to the rest of the class, their eyes all watching their exchange, breath held in fear of what might be the outcome of this new fiasco. 

"Oh! Hajar Tamer!" the professor nearly squeals, jumping froward to wrap the girl in a hug, which surprises the whole class. They haven't ever seen this reaction from the professor. Using the hug as a distraction, Raimunde sneaks away, finding her seat beside the window.

A few moments later, after Ray has lost herself in her dreams and the professor has let the new student go, Hajar introduces herself to the class. Professor Starre ushers her to an empty desk, before beaming brightly, completely forgetting about the tardiness of Ray's.

"I expect you all to treat Hajar well. She might even take away the position of the top student in this class." Professor Starre taps a copy of  _ The Lord of Flies  _ on Ray's desk, startling her out of her dreams. "She's the daughter of a dear friend of mine so consequences will also be dire." The statement causes muffled murmurs to rise in the classroom. This is certainly an interesting turn of events. 

"W-was that aimed at me?" Ray asks, pointing a thumb to herself, slightly in shock. "I treated her well enough, didn't I?"

"Professor, please don't threaten the students," Hajar calls out, drawing the attention to her. "I can take care of myself. Besides, Raimunde's done nothing but help since I came in."

Professor Starre sighs, dropping the book on Ray's desk, open to page 56. "For your information, my first remark, the one about the top student was directed to you, Raimunde. Other than that, I meant no harm. Now. Everyone, please open to page fifty-six, Raimunde will be reading from the second paragraph. I want you all to note down the techniques the William Golding has used in the next few pages." She makes her way back to her desk, picking up her own copy of the book and nodding at Ray, who hasn't shut her mouth out of shock.

_ She was the top student in the class? Why was she just aware of this now? _

"Hurry up, Ms. Sallow. We don't have all day."

"Ah sorry, Professor." Ray shuts her mouth and grabs the book, noting the look that Hajar throws her way. No one else seems surprised about the announcement.  _ Did they all already know? _

_ 'Good job!'  _ Hajar mouths and that is the last thing she sees before Ray loses herself in the world William Golding has created.


	5. Little Perks in the Day

The class ends and Raimunde makes her way out of the building with a yawn, sudden tiredness aching in her bones and nightmares flashing behind her lids. She can't sleep yet anyways; she has work. 

Slipping out her phone, she dials the number of one of her friends and presses the device to her ear as she makes her way to her car. 

A "Hey, Ray" crackles through her ears as Ilham picks up, a slight crunching on the other end which indicates that she might've been eating. She perks up at the sound of her friends' voice, some of her aches vanishing. 

"Hi, Ilham. How are you?"

"I'm good, Alhamdolillah. What about you?"

"I'm okay."

"Aw. Everything alright?"

"Yeah. I just got out of class." She opens the door and settles herself inside, inserting the keys into the ignition. "I have a long shift at work today so I'm coming home to pick one of you up so that you can take the car after dropping me off at work."

"M'kay. I'll send Hawa. She'll meet you outside." In the back, Ray hears a light, "Yeah, I will. Just let me finish this ice cream."

"You guys are eating ice cream without me?" Ray teases, twisting the steering wheel to drive her car out of the parking lot and head out onto the main road. 

"But-" She can imagine Ilham's pout, "-you don't even _like_ ice cream, Raimunde."

"I know, I know. I'm teasing." Ray laughs, ending the call after a hurried goodbye and focusing on the road ahead. 

Clicking the radio button, she smiles gently as Brother begins singing through the car. 

\---

Stopping the car in front of the house, Ray honks the car horn and the door opens and spits Hawa out the door. She's laughing as she walks down the stairs and the door closes behind her. Ray watches her with a fond smile, glad to see that her friend is smiling. 

Opening the door, Hawa smiles at her as she sits down and puts on her seatbelt and closes the door. "How are you, my lovely Raimunde?"

"I'm good." She laughs, setting the car back into 'drive' and twisting the wheel to set course for her workplace. "What about you, Hawa?"

"Ah...I'm doing good as well. Alhamdolillah." 

"Do you have a class today or are you staying home?"

"I have an afternoon class and a bit of a late shift tonight."

"Aw. Does that mean you won't be able to eat dinner with us?"

"No, no. I will because it ends at pretty much the same time as yours. So I'll probably take the car and pick you up on my way back." Hawa presses the button to let the window slide down, peering outside. 

"That probably means that Ilham's gonna spend the whole day just studying. That girl is going to have a complete burnout if she doesn't take care of herself."

"I'll make sure she doesn't start working until I leave, 'kay?" Hawa ruffles her hair, eliciting a giggle from the older girl and her aches vanish a bit more. 

"Yeah. Thank you."

"Anytime, Ray-Ray."

The rest of the drive is filled with light chatter but it doesn't take long before they've reached Ray's workplace. She exits the car with her bag and watches as Hawa switches her seat and drives away. 

Heading inside, Raimunde greets the receptionist who's sitting at the front desk before taking the elevator up to her own office. Unlocking the door, she steps inside and drops her bag on the chair in front of her desk and sets up her laptop to the monitors on her desk. She takes a seat in her chair and drops her head in her hands. Her aches have returned and this time with a headache as well. She hasn't been overworking, or even been stressed out this whole week, _why is she feeling like this?_

Anger surges through her veins but she takes deep breaths and before long, she's calm, her anger slightly forgotten because her headache has spiked up. 

Ignoring it, she focuses on the screen, opening up her editors' email and replying to the people who want to get their books edited and then eventually published. After that's all done, she delves into all the stories piled up, glasses perched on her nose as she loses herself in the world of those beautiful stories. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you wondering, Alhamdolila means Praise to God


	6. Unexpected Concern

"Why are the lig—" the door opens and Raimunde's boss steps inside, only to look up and notice the motionless body of her employee in the chair, eyes still glued to the screen. "—Ms. Sallow? What are you still doing here?"

The sudden movement of the door opening draws Ray's attention and she finally moves her head from the screen, earning a loud bone crack to escape from her neck as she does. Her boss winces but Ray smiles, weirdly giddy over a bone crack. Then she takes note of the fact that her boss is standing in the doorway of her office.

"Oh em gee. I didn't even notice." She whispers to herself before standing up to show her respect to her boss. "Ms. Fernsby! I'm so sorry I didn't see you there. Come in, come sit." She moves forward and shakes her hand before pointing to the chairs in front of her desk. 

"Ah, no. Do you know what time it is, Ms. Sallow?"

Raimunde tilts her head. Her boss came all the way just to ask for the time? "Um...probably around five perhaps? Let me check." She moves to her monitor, only for her boss's next words to make her freeze.

"It's almost nine, Ms. Sallow."

"NINE—I..." She gasps, before noticing the look her boss is giving us. "...didn't realize it was so late."

"Well, it is. Tell you what. I need to talk to you anyways and you probably haven't had dinner yet so I'll treat you to dinner?" Ms. Fernsby smiles, slightly easing Ray's nerves.

"I actually promised I'd have dinner with my roommates. But I do have enough time for a drink?" Raimunde picks up her phone, taking note of the time before looking up to see a beaming smile on Ms. Fernsby's face.

"That's fine. Pack up. I'll be waiting for you in the lobby downstairs." Ray's boss is not old, but she  _ is  _ older than her so there is no arguing with her. 

"Alright. I'll be down in three minutes, Ms. Fernsby." 

She leaves and Raimunde jumps into her cleaning, picking up her laptop and placing it safely in her bag before grabbing her keys and phone from the desk and shooting a text to Hawa that she won't need a ride and they can start with dinner because she'd be home just a tiny bit late.

After that, she steps out and locks the door of her office and takes the elevator down to the lobby where the receptionist is gone but Ms. Fernsby awaits Raimunde's presence at the glass doors. The two smile at each other and Raimunde takes the place by Ms. Fersby's side as she closes and then promptly locks the doors. 

They head to Ms. Fernsby's car in silence, orders displayed by gentle nods of the head rather than words. 

"You can put your bag in the back and come sit up at the front with me." Ms. Fernsby says, opening the back door and putting her own bag in there which is soon followed by Ray's. 

The drive is mostly silent, an awkward one for Raimunde, perhaps because she's not really used to being treated by her boss. Or even sitting in a car that contains her boss. Even though Ms. Fernsby is probably only five or six years older than her, it's like being in trouble with a teacher—

"You're not going to ask what I was doing in your office in the first place?" Ms. Fernsby breaks the silence, shaking Raimunde out of her thoughts. 

"It's your company, Ms. Fernsby. Besides, you're a good person, so you were probably checking up on your employees." Raimunde answers unsurely. What might offend her, and what might not?

"It's not Ms. Fernsby anymore. We're outside of work, so think of us as friends now. You can call me Tee." Ms. Fer—Tee laughs, a hearty, yet gentle laugh escaping her pretty lips.

"If you're Tee, then I'm Raimunde. Or 'Ray', if you prefer."

"Alright. Ray, then." There's the silence back at it again. Ray takes the moment to observe the slowly darkening sky, the colours lighting up something inside her, perhaps a new idea of some sort...she's not quite sure yet. "You know, Ray, you have a very kind heart as well."

"I-I do?" She faces away from the window to look at her boss, who's smiling, but not looking at her. 

"Of course you do. I think all the people on the world do. But some have better ways of showing it." Slowly, the car twists before coming into rest in the parking lot of a local Tim Hortons. "I hope you don't find that I brought you to a place so common as a Timmys'—"

"No, no." Raimunde shakes her hands as Tee finally faces her. "If you'd taken me elsewhere, I wouldn't have known what to drink."

"Oh well, then I'm glad I brought you here. I don't come here much, so I'm afraid you'll have to recommend me something to drink."

"Of course!"

They exit the car and enter the store, a stranger exiting holding the door open for the two ladies. They both say thank you to the man and head inside and stand in line to order.

After some light conversation, the ladies both order drinks and a cookie each before finding a booth to share. 

They both stare out at the fully darkening sky outside as they sip their drinks, a light beep from Ray's phone indicating that a message has been received. She slips it out of her pocket for a look.

**Hawada:** Alright, Ray. Be safe and come home quickly. You promised you'd come for dinner. Ilham's cooking and I think we can expect something delicious.

**Raimunde:** Kk

"Your roommate?" Tee asks. 

"Ah yes. Sorry." She slips the device back and looks back at Tee, only to see the older woman's eyes boring into hers.

"It's okay. So, I should probably get talking, shouldn't I?"

"Take your time, Tee." Ray smiles, quietly studying her boss's features. Brown hair and caramel coloured skin that suits her completely.

"Okay. So. I wanted to know your process on your next book." She blurts it out in a rush as if she's afraid of what might come next. Tee Fernsby is one of the only people to know what happened.

"Oh." Raimunde looks down, twirling her straw in her drink before looking up. "I started a new one."

"Oh? That's great! What's it called?" If possible, Tee's smile stretches even further. 

"I haven't really decided, but I'm thinking perhaps Two Sides Of The Same Coin or Insanity Runs In The Genes."

"Well, perhaps I can help you decide if you tell me what it's about."

So the two of them spend the next couple of minutes talking about the story and how it may seem from different angles and what could be changed and what should be kept. Typical employee and boss talk.

Around the end, though, Raimunde breathes in sharply when a headache pulses behind her forehead and she stifles the urge to massage her temples. 

"Everything okay?" Tee asks, worry dancing in her eyes.

"Yeah, I think so. I just have a headache." She presses her fingers against her head, hoping that the harder she pushes, the further away it will get.

"Well then. That brings me to the second thing I wanted to talk about with you today. After that, I'll take you home so you can rest, okay?"

"Okay. What is the second thing?" She lets go of her head and turns almost her full attention to her boss.

"I've been noticing that you've been looking extra tired recently."

"I have?"

"You have. And not only me, but other employees are noticing it too and they've mentioned it to me."

"Yeah, they've come up to me a couple of times...but I haven't been really that stressed so I don't see why I look so tired." Raimunde bows her head, slightly blushing. The thought of people caring for her is...nice and heartwarming. 

"Well, I hope you can book an appointment with a doctor to get checked. So I'm giving you the next week off, in hopes that you will feel better. If you still don't, you have my number. Use it well." 

The statements are shocking to Ray. First, random people caring about her, now this?

She'd lost almost all belief in people after what had happened.

"I—thank you, Tee. Thank you so much." She smiles at her boss and they stand up, exiting through the doors of Timmy's before they make their way to the car. 

The drive home is short, filled with a more comfortable silence with the occasional instruction of direction from Raimunde. 

"Thank you so much for this enlightening night, Tee. I really appreciate it." Raimunde says softly as she exits the car. Tee smiles and nods in acknowledgement. 

"You too. I enjoyed the company." 

Raimunde slips out her bag from the backseat and gets out of the car, closing the door behind her. 

Tee rolls down the window, yelling out a "Take care of yourself, Raimunde!" as Ray reaches the door. She turns around and smiles, mouthing a "You too!" before knocking on the door. 


End file.
